Dr. Rattan Lal

Director, CFAES Dr. Rattan Lal Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at the Ohio State University

"Healthy Soil = Healthy Food = Healthy People = Healthy Ecosystems = Healthy Planet." This is the mantra of Dr. Rattan Lal, winner of the 2020 World Food Prize for his pioneering work in soil science. Dr. Lal is a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the newly formed CFAES Dr. Rattan Lal Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University. He was included in the Thomson Reuters list of the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds (2014-2016), and he is among Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers in Agriculture (2014-2020). He has authored/co-authored over 1000 refereed journal articles and more than 550 book chapters, has written and edited/co-edited more than 100 books. He is Chair in Soil Science and Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainability Issues for the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and member of the 2021 United Nations Food Security Summit Science Committee. In addition to receiving the prestigious World Food Price in 2020, Dr. Lal has been awarded the GCHERA World Agriculture Prize (2018), Glinka World Soil Prize (2018), Japan Prize (2019), U.S. Awasthi IFFCO Prize (2019), Arrell Global Food Innovation Award (2020), and the Padma Shri Award (2021).